


Shared Loneliness

by fight_gee_for_an_apple



Series: we found each other [1]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Band, Frerard, Health Issues, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking, shy!Gerard, student!Frank, supportive!Frank, teacher!gerard, yes there will be smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fight_gee_for_an_apple/pseuds/fight_gee_for_an_apple
Summary: Frank is a student at high school and doesn't have any friends (for a reason). Gerard is the new teacher.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: we found each other [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821988
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24
Collections: Frerard





	1. a new beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fanfic in English! I already wrote a lot in German on the german fanfiction-website, but I've got this Frerard-fanfic in my head since I don't know when and I decided to finally write it down. As you can see, my English is a hell of a mess, so I've been lucky to find a wonderful beta reader. Thank you so much at this point! @FrankiesLilKilljoy (yeah, this note obviously wasn't beta read, I'm so sorry for any mistakes T__T)
> 
> I guess that I won't post the next chapter at least until next week (that's when I'm gonna have my exams). Sorry again, for this T__T

It was a normal day, just like any other. Frank was sitting in the back of the classroom waiting for his art teacher. He liked her. She knew how to do her job properly. She was a bit older than other teachers, definitely over 60 years old, Frank would guess, but she was so sweet, that practically everyone in class adored her.

But today something was different – she was late, already five minutes late, though, to be precise. Frank was beginning to wonder where his teacher could be, when suddenly a quite young looking man with black hair, black trousers, white shirt, a vest and a one-shoulder-bag entered the room. He fidgeted with his fingers taking a deep breath before entering the classroom and then again before speaking, his face with a sad but open expression. He was nervous, obviously, Frank could tell.

„Good morning, class.“

This guy had a weird kind of squeaky voice, Frank thought, but he was already kind of attached to it.

„I'm so sorry, but I've got this very unpleasant task to tell you the sad news.“

Frank listened up and straightened in his chair a bit. The teacher or student teacher (the class didn't know since he didn't introduce himself yet) in front of the class, who was actually speaking, put his hands in his pockets and looked on the floor.

„Mrs. Romero... She... She died last night.“

After that, the whispering started in the class. Well, everyone was speaking with each other, except Frank. He was always sitting alone. He liked it that way. He hated discussions and long talks, they were always stupid or pointless anyways, at least with the people he knew. That guy was obviously leaving a bit of room for the students to talk with each other. Frank only could guess, that it was on purpose since people could need a few minutes, at least in the beginning, to process the news right just after having heard such shocking information.

„I didn't know her myself, since I've only been teaching here for one month now and didn't get to know all of the teachers. But I've heard nothing but the best of this apparently cute old lady.“ He scratched the back of his head. Still nervous and even shy, obviously, but he did his best to hide it. „That's why I am also very sorry to tell you, that I am your new English and Art teacher now.“ He wrote his name on the board and then quickly turned back again to the class. „My name's Gerard Way and I know, that I will never replace your previous teacher and her wonderfully beautiful teaching style, but I hope, that we can make this work.“ He put his bag on the desk – Frank guessed, that his lap top was in there – and then sat on it while he supported himself with his hands by putting them on the desk, one on each side.

„Of course we won't start with our lesson just like that“, he gestured with his hands a lot now. „So first, does anyone want to say something? Or are there any questions?“

No one was raising their hands and the whispers died suddenly after these questions.  
Mr. Way sighed and stood up from the desk.

„There will be a minutes silence tomorrow, so we're not going to do it now. The school's director just found out about Mrs. Romero's death this morning, so we still don't know the cause. But under such circumstances we obviously won't just go on with the subject, where Mrs. Romero ended it. Since no one wanted to say anything, I think it will be the best, you put this on a paper. Since I'm your Art AND English teacher now, you can write or draw something, that expresses your feelings about this situation. You've got this whole lesson for it. If you're done with your essay or your picture before this lesson ends, feel free to leave the class, if this helps or is your special way to get along with your feelings. According to such a sad and special situation, I am, of course, totally okay with everything. And I would really appreciate, if you'll hand in your works to me. I can use it to get to know you better and give you kind of a 'plus' on your mark. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, you don't need to hand it in, of course.“ He got back to the desk and sat on his chair, while opening his lap top now. „If anyone needs to talk in private with their friend, class mate or with me, to share their feelings and thoughts, feel free to do so. You can even leave the classroom, if you feel better with that.“ He gave the class a polite smile, before eventually turning to his lap top and starting to type in his password, using his both index fingers – the way nearly every teacher typed.

The class did as they were told. Some where leaving the class room, some stayed inside and talked to each other and the rest started to think what to draw or write. Some started immediately to put things on their paper, without even thinking, so that they handed their work in after some minutes. Frank could see that Steven hasn't drawn anything at all, but still handed his 'work' in and left the class. Frank understood his point and smiled at that, cause this idea wasn't that bad. Ronald was drawing something quite too black so that nearly his whole piece of paper turned black. Suddenly Frank noticed how Jenny stood up and walked to the teacher. Frank watched how Mr. Way also stood up now and supported Jenny, by putting his hands on her arms a bit, in order to comfort her since she was crying now and speaking in a hysterical way. Frank smiled at the sight of this. This whole scene was just too cute.

But he had a task and he would definitely hand his work in. He would nearly do anything for a better grade.

But what should he draw? He looked around the classroom, out of the windows and he realized, that he could literally draw anything. It could be something abstract and dark, something personal he shared with his now dead teacher, something about sad feelings, anxiety or even the depression he probably should have (but didn't), something about god and the afterlife or...

He decided, it should be something positive, maybe about the future or the present. At least it was the way he really felt right now.

Frank was always the type, that looked forward no matter what.

But what could he draw, that was positive? He looked around in the classroom (again) and was caught up (again) by the sight of his new teacher. It seemed, he successfully supported Jenny, cause she was smiling now just like Mr. Way himself, and was heading back to her place, wiping off some last tears of her face. That's when it hit him.

He wanted a good grade for this so bad, like always, that he wanted to draw something special – in a never-have-been-done-before-special kind of way. He knew, he could also just take a photo of what he had in mind, but that would be to easy. He would definitely draw it – with nothing but a black pencil, he decided.

\---

„Alright, guys.“, Mr. Way said, clapping his hands once in a cheering way. „Ten minutes left.“ He took a look at the clock above the entrance of the classroom. „I'd say, if you're done with your work, you can hand it in now and then you'll have ten extra minutes for your break, but if you're not ready, you can of course finish your work in the last ten minutes or you can also take it home and finish it there.“ He smiled politely at the end of his announcement and then sat back in his chair.

Frank had already finished his work about ten minutes ago and kept looking at it. He was very satisfied with what he has done. He hoped so much, that Mr. Way would get the point of his work, cause it wasn't like his drawing was that obvious. You've got to spend some time analyzing it to get the point the artist wanted to tell here. God, he already knew, that Mr. Way would have questions on this one.

When he got to this conclusion, he recognized that most of his classmates already left and he was the last one. He sighed, disappointed about that fact. He spent too much time overthinking, again.

He stood up, took his backpack and walked forwards, putting his drawing on the top of the stack and giving his teacher one short smile, before half-rushing to the door, to avoid questions.

He was already almost out of the classroom, when he heard his teacher.

„Uhm... Excuse me?“, came from behind him in a confused but officially polite and kind voice.

Frank cursed internally, before turning around to see his teacher standing up with his drawing in his hands, while he walked towards Frank – kind of dazzled and shaking his head in incomprehension.

„Sorry.“, the teacher said now, looking at Frank with his polite, sorry and understanding look, this young teacher apparently always had.

„First, your name is... uhm...“, he looked at the piece of paper in his hands again, turned it around. „Frank... Uhm...“

„Iero.“, Frank completed the sentence.

„Uh, yes. Sorry, again.“ Mr. Way kept his eyes on the drawing while speaking.  
„Look, Frank, I'm so pleased, cause nobody's done something like this before, in no class I've ever taught, but... uhm...“ He obviously was searching for the right words and thinking a lot to say the right thing, but Frank saw that coming, he just have hoped, that Mr. Way wouldn't confront him with that immediately, but unfortunately he did it now.

Frank cursed internally again, cause he really shouldn't have hoped something else. He hated all the moments, he relied on hope or only his gut feeling.

„So can you... uhm... maybe just explain it to me? Then I know better how to grade your work.“

Frank resisted to say, that HE was teacher and that HE should know with a bit of thinking, what he meant by that goddamn drawing, but he also didn't give a solution right away that easily.

„I hoped, you would figure it out on your own.“ He scratched the back of his head and resisted again to add 'since YOU are the teacher here'.

Mr. Way chuckled. „Yes, of course.“ Then he frowned. „I'm just still confused and wondering, how can a portrait of myself have something to do with your sadness about the death of Mrs. Romero?“

„You ever consider, that my drawing isn't about sadness but something else?“

Mr. Way was frowning and looked at the portrait of himself again and then back at Frank.

Frank shook his head, looking at the floor and smiling, while putting his hands in his pockets.

„I'm sorry.“, he said then, looking at Mr. Way. He now felt sorry for the shy teacher, since he understood just NOW, that of course everyone would take a portrait of themselves personal at first and would then be blinded by that fact, not able to think further. That was when Frank understood, he really had to explain it.

„When I was deciding what to draw, I first thought of something sad, but then I realized, that it wouldn't be right to draw that, since I didn't feel sad at all.“

Mr. Way looked at Frank now even more dazzled and even kind of shocked as Frank quickly continued with his explanation, before his new teacher could misunderstand something in a far too personal way, where Frank never was heading with his picture.

„I wanted to draw something positive and a new start. A fresh beginning is something positive. And you are our new teacher, you told us about her death in the best way possible, so...“

„...the new beginning is with me. That why you've drawn me.“

Frank nodded and felt relieved.

„God, I'm so sorry, I just took it way too personal. I should've...“

„No, there is no need to feel sorry.“, Frank interrupted him. „Of course you've taken it personal. It's a portrait of yourself. I saw that coming, but... yeah...“ He really wanted to leave this conversation now. He hated conversations anyways and didn't have the nerves to explain further.  
„I'm just glad, I could get this clear for you. If you'll excuse me, I really have to go now.“

„Oh... yes... yes, of course.“, Mr. Way answered hesitantly. „I'll see you tomorrow then.“

„Yes, bye.“ Frank smiled one last smile before heading to the door again, this time even faster than he did some minutes before.

„Oh, and Frank? Just one more thing“, Mr. Way called to him.

Frank turned to face his teacher (again).

„You were far too kind with it.“

Frank frowned. „What do you mean?“

„I'm not that good looking“, Mr. Way chuckled. „Of course, it's your drawing, it's okay to draw it in every way YOU want it to draw, how YOU see the things around you, but still... I mean, the face... the contours... the hair... it's nearly perfect and therefore nearly surreal, but just like I said...“

„...it's the way I see YOU.“, Frank finished the sentence for his teacher.

Now they were there standing across the front of the classroom, at least fifteen feet apart from each other and staring at each other in silence.

After a few long seconds, Mr. Way swallowed hard, acting nervous while looking at the portrait again. He really just wasn't born with enough self-confidence and obviously wasn't prepared for that portrait of him – drawn by one of his students.  
„Well... uhm... I uhm... See you tomorrow then, Frank. Have a nice day.“

„Yeah, you, too“, Frank answered quickly to this.

„Oh and thank you, Frank.“, Mr. Way said in a serious way.

„Not for that.“, Frank answered simply and finally could head back home.


	2. in detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I know it's been nearly a month, I'm so sorry, time flies :D  
> I actually changed my 'writer's style' a bit: Now my girl T is editing my chapters firstly and then my beta reader.  
> I want to say thank you so much to both of them, they're doing such a great work and make those chapters so much better.  
> T adds a lot of 'tension'-stuff and even more ideas she's getting, while reading my raw material and it's all just so great, it's feels like reading a whole new fanfic for me AND you guys are getting about one page per chap more of this fanfic :3  
> And my beta reader keeps erasing all my bad grammar and replacing it by the right one. AND she notices even some small mistakes, like where I wrote one letter more than needed or forgot one :D This makes this whole reading experience for you guys so much better! So have fun with it!  
> And again: If there were some mistakes in this note: I'm so sorry (friendly reminder: english isn't my first language, it's actually even my third, so... :D)
> 
> Now have fun with this chapter, I hope you like it :)  
> And I'm happy to see some comments and/or Kudos of yours :)

The next week Frank had to be in detention.

He wasn't one of the typical students to get any kind of punishment. He had very good or at least average grades, except in math, since he really was struggling with that subject.

So he didn't get this detention, because of his misbehavior or bad manners or some unfair treatment of some rude teacher. He'd got it, because he was late the third time in a row now. Honestly, he had got a very good reason to be late, but he just couldn't tell anybody, because that would get him into trouble. It had something to do with the fact, that he wasn't of legal age. So, he was getting used to getting detention approximately once a month.

Standing in one of the school hall ways, he was holding his detention-paper in one hand while using his other hand to keep his backpack from falling, since he was wearing it one-shoulder-style. On the paper he could find such information as in which room he had to go and there were also some fields to get filled in by the teacher, who had to keep an eye on the students. This way he would have a proof, that he actually was there.

217\. That was the room he was standing in front of. He compared the number from the little sign next to the door with the one on his paper, before he finally entered the room.

Shivers went down Frank's spine after he recognized that it was Mr. Way who apparently had the task to keep an eye on the students today. He sat there in a fir green buttoned up shirt. Frank wasn't pleased by this sight. He was not ready for another awkward conversation with Mr. Way since that embarrassing portrait-incident with him. Since then he kept sitting in the back of the class and was the first to leave whenever a lesson ended. Of course, he still raised his hand to give answers during a lesson, but he avoided any direct contact with Mr. Way that actually was avoidable.

Frank was noticed by his teacher in an instant.

„Oh! Hi Frank!“ Mr. Way sounded surprised, of course, but still kind of up-cheering. Frank would've said that he didn't even sound disappointed or something like that but on the opposite – kind of happy to see Frank. But he could've misunderstood this, cause why would Mr. Way be happy to see him in detention? On the other hand, Mr. Way always was so positive, no matter which situation. And that was one thing which secretly impressed Frank about him. Frank never carried such positivity nor did he think he ever could. His motto was more something like 'carry on' or 'just survive'. He bet his teacher would still stay the optimist he was, even if it literally was the end of the world. Of course he would never admit that but there was something about his teacher that fascinated him. Usually he didn't care about his teachers at all, but this one was different. Or maybe it was just the first impression excitement because Mr. Way was new?

„Yeah, hi“, was his simple response with a monotone voice as he headed to one of the places that were in the front row. Frank didn't feel comfortable in this whole situation. He just wanted to skip this as fast as possible or at least he wished to be swallowed by the ground. But nothing of this kind happened, so he just was taking his seat and started to unpack his backpack for some writing utensils. When he was ready, he leaned back in his seat and waited for this to start.

„I guess...“, Mr. Way said as he looked around, „...you'll be the only one here today.“ He said it with a honest smile. This information hit Frank like a ton of bricks. He looked at him almost the same way after he heard that his lovely teacher Mr. Romero past away. He hated it now even more and he couldn't hide it, but he tried to respond with a kind smile without showing his teeth. So he ended up with an impatient 'can-we-already-start-this-shit'-smile and he was regretting it instantly as he recognized, that Mr. Way noticed his bad mood about this. But still, this young, enthusiastic teacher stayed calm, kind and polite as he moved on.

Frank couldn't understand how much patience and positivity this guy must've kept inside of himself. 

Mr. Way sat on the desk, as he always liked to do.

„So... First: Do you already have any homework to do?“

Frank frowned. „Yes I have, but this wouldn't be real punishment, if I was allowed to do it here and now.“

Mr. Way looked surprised as Frank said that in a cocky way but smiled in amusement as he looked down on his shoes, his feet moving back and forth a bit in a playful way. Frank noticed his tiny, little teeth, that looked so strange, but they fit him. He couldn't process that fact and didn't try to, further.

„I know, but it's my way to do this detention class“, his teacher answered. „My philosophy is, that it is always better to let the students get their work done than to give them a burden of things that wouldn't help them get any smarter, probably“, he gestured.

Frank crossed his arms and leaned back, stretching his legs out on the floor, his gaze serious, his voice still monotone. He looked up at his teacher.

„Then maybe you should give them the right tasks, so that the students could actually learn something.“

Frank realized what he actually said the second he saw the aggrieved look on Mr. Way's face. 'Fuck', Frank thought, immediately trying to figure out what his teacher must've been thinking right now. He apologized instantly.

„I'm so... so sorry, Mr. Way. I really don't know where that came from.“ Frank looked at his teacher in an open and honest way. He meant it.

Frank had no idea what was going on with him nor what his problem was. I mean, yeah, he definitely wasn't the type of guy who had sparkling positivity and he wasn't that socially interactive, but he didn't want to be that rude to Mr. Way.

Mr. Way was probably the best teacher they ever had, after Mrs. Romero, he thought.

„No problem“, Mr. Way just said, putting some strands of black hair behind his ear while he was now taking a seat, so that Frank couldn't see the man's face now.

„Just... do your homework, then. When I notice, that you're done, I'll have to give you some of my tasks.“ He looked at Frank and added „Unfortunately“.

Frank now felt even worse as Mr. Way turned back to typing something on his lap top, his polite smile gone, but he couldn't do anything about it. He already apologized. So he just started to look on his list, where he's written down, what homework he's got to do. Maybe so he could get distracted from his awkward feelings and forget this dumb situation that was getting worse with every second.

From time to time, Frank glimpsed over to his teacher to see if his charming and kinda delightful smile returned. But nothing like that happened.

Suddenly Frank started to feel a heat all over his body. Maybe it was just the embarrassment and the mortifying situation he was in. He was wondering what Mr. Way was thinking right now, but he tried his best to focus on his paper, trying to ignore the awkward silence between them.

When he looked on his list, he thought to start with the subject he liked less. So math it was, then.

He started with the first task. Already that one wasn't easy. He sighed deeply and got recognized by his teacher.

„Can I... uh... help you? With your homework?“, Mr. Way asked curiously.

„Uhm...“ was all that Frank could get out. „It's math. I don't know, if you...“

„Oh, I can try to“, Mr. Way stood instantly and headed to Frank before he then stopped abruptly. „Except you don't want me to“, he added.

Frank knew, it would be even more disrespectful to deny Mr. Way's help now. So he accepted it thankfully. „Yeah, sure. You can try to. I'd be glad“, he said kindly.

And there it was again, his thin lips formed a crooked smile on his face. He looked happy.

Mr. Way got to Frank and crouched by the side of his desk, so that he could see, what his homework was about. For Frank's taste, Mr. Way was too close to him, but surprisingly he didn't feel uncomfortable about it. He stopped thinking about this further, since Mr. Way now tried to explain this stupid math task to him.

„Uhm... Okay. It's long ago, since I was solving something like this, but we can try it together.“ Mr. Way's eyes were focused on the math papers the whole time causing a wrinkle between his eyebrows, when Frank decided to apologize again, still feeling so bad because of the incident some minutes before.

He took a deep breath, his eyes closed, to calm himself a bit down, before speaking up.

„Mr. Way?“, he started then, carefully and shyly, his voice a bit hoarse, feeling his knees becoming weak.

„Yes?“, the man responded and looked Frank in the eyes. Frank earned a far more concerned look than he deserved, if he was honest, but he welcomed it and was ready to give a better apology than he did before.

„I just wanted to say...“, he fidgeted with his his fingers, while his hands laid on his math homework paper. He kept his gaze down on them, when he continued, „I'm truly sorry for what I've said before. It wasn't on purpose.“ He raised his eyes to look at Mr. Way now, his words full of truth and honesty. „I would never hurt you on purpose. I just wanted to know you that. Okay?“

Mr. Way didn't respond instantly. He kept holding Frank's gaze for some very long seconds ('five at least', Frank thought), before finally speaking up. „Yeah, uhm yeah...“, he cleared his throat, quickly looking away. „ I know Frank. Don't... don't worry.“ He smiled now. „I guess, I showed too much emotion. I shouldn't have done that“, he chuckled a bit awkwardly.

Frank didn't understand at all. How he shouldn't have show emotions when Frank hurt him with his words obviously?

Frank remembered the psychological trick to wait and remain silent to get more information from the person you're talking to. So he didn't ask further or say something. It worked. Mr. Way continued explaining.

„You know, I'm already used to it, that students are mean to me.“

Frank couldn't believe, what he just heard.

„You know, I'm the shy one and on top of that, students like to misjudge me to be a student teacher“, he smiled embarrassed and blushed „...so it's easy for them to do that.“ He zoned out at this point, smiling sadly. „Of course, I'm staying professional. I'm just a bit less kind to them, at least for some seconds and I hope they notice, but they don't care most of time.“ He turned back looking at Frank.“ So I guess I didn't expect any reaction from you either. If I knew, you would react like that...“

„You are one of the last people on this earth, who deserved any bad treatment“, Frank interrupted him.

They stared at each other again. It was the same long stare, when Frank told his teacher (giving him that portrait of him), that it was the way HE saw HIM.

At this point, Frank noticed that the always-positive-and-always-friendly-smiling was only a disguise, a protective mechanism to fit in and be accepted by others.

Frank only cared about himself, because no one else seemed to understand him so he didn't want to waste his time with fake people and small talk – until now, because that wasn't anything near fake. For the first time, someone awoke his interest and from this moment on he felt something like a connection to his teacher.

Mr. Way was the one again to break the silence

„You're far too kind“, was his simple response as he patted Frank's arm while he changed the subject, but keeping their eyes on each other. „I'll... uh... look on my lap top on the internet, if I can find something to help you with your math homework.“

„Okay. Thanks“, Frank nodded, as Mr. Way stood up, and turned back to try figuring it out on his own.

Suddenly his teacher started to stumble backwards a bit, till he found hold on the desk behind him. He had his eyes closed and hold one hand to his forehead while supporting himself with the other hand by holding on that desk and leaning on it.

Frank stood up as fast as he could to help Mr. Way before he could get any more harm. As he stood there close to him, he couldn't move. So he ended up hovering his hands close to his teacher to be ready to catch him, if he falls. He decided at least to ask him, how he felt.

„Uhm... Mr. Way? Are you okay? Can I help you?“ A cold sweat ran down Frank's forehead as only few centimeters separated them from each other.

„No... I... I'm okay, Frank.“ That sounded nowhere near to convincing. He kept his eyes closed and stayed in the position he took some seconds ago.

Frank stayed there also, his hands now in his pockets, but still ready and aware to help Mr. Way if he needed it, glancing onto him.

„Damn it, it won't go away...“, Mr. Way complained after a while.

That was when Frank recognized he needed to do SOMEthing. So he glanced on Mr. Way's desk and noticed there his bottle of water. He rushed, grabbed and opened it. He noticed that Mr. Way was still busy supporting himself with both of his hands, so he took his hand from his forehead carefully and softly and gave him the bottle into his now free hand. Mr. Way said nothing, keeping his eyes still closed, taking the bottle to take some big sips.

Frank watched him doing so, hoping Mr. Way would get better soon.

„Thank you, Frank.“, Mr. Way said eventually after putting the bottle down, but Frank could see, that he still didn't feel better. Now he was even paler than the walls in the room. Frank understood now, that it must have to do something with Mr. Way's blood circulation.

It wasn't a very hot or even warm day, but it was quite humid. Maybe that was the reason.

Frank headed to one of the windows to open it. Fresh air should help.

But Mr. Way still stood there, suffering in the pain. Frank could imagine that his teacher must have been about to throw up, since that was mostly one of the symptoms when you had problems with your blood circulation.

Frank couldn't just stand there without doing anything. He was about to give his teacher clear instructions, what to do so he would finally feel better, when the man suddenly spoke up.

„Can you please go get a paramedics or a teacher?“

'That doesn't make any sense...', Frank thought.

„And leave you here alone so that you'll collapse on the floor and harm yourself by doing so?“

Mr. Way sighed. So he understood then. Frank was glad, that he did.

Frank was not willing to leave his teacher all alone in this situation. He was very concerned about him and had to do something now, before worse could happen...

„I know how to deal with blood circulation problems. Trust me. I already managed many“, Frank said while he was taking off his hoodie (thank god he had a t-shirt underneath) and laid it on the floor. He then got back to Mr. Way, guiding him to the floor by holding the older man's wrists.

„Come here. Lay down.“

„Frank, is that really necessary?“ came the protest from Mr. Way.

„If you don't want to throw up or collapse, it is.“ Frank didn't even care what his teacher said or thought in this situation. All he wanted to do was to bring his circulation to a normal level and make him feel better.

Mr. Way still stood there for some seconds, before giving in and laying down on the floor, the comfy hoodie supporting his head and back a little.

Frank sat there next to him. When he saw how painfully Mr. Way was still closing his eyes, hovering a hand over them, he headed to the light switch next to the door to turn off the lights. When he got back, to sit next to his teacher again, Mr. Way seemingly started to relax, his eyes still closed of course.

Frank stayed there, watching him carefully, listening to the man's deep, calm breaths. He knelt down in front of him and couldn't help but stare at that man for a while to observe, if he was doing alright. He never noticed what clear skin Mr. Way had. And his, now closed, almond shaped hazel eyes matched perfectly to his porcelain skin. Frank noticed, that this was, in fact, a very rare combination.

It was so quiet. He guessed, the hall ways must be empty, since it was already late afternoon – classic time for detention class.

„Thank you, Frank. I really feel much better now“, it came suddenly from Mr. Way as he started to move to get up. It surprised Frank as he was still staring at Mr. Ways porcelain skin, and didn't even notice that his teacher already opened his eyes again and that was the moment, when Frank's hands landed on his teacher's shoulders.

„No. Don't move. You still need a bit more time for your blood circulation to normalize.“

Mr. Way looked startled, but nodded and laid down, as Frank kept his hands on the man's shoulders.

„But I can't lay here forever“, Mr. Way chuckled suddenly, causing a crooked grin.

„Yeah, I know“, Frank said. „Just one more minute and then I'll help you getting up.“

He looked at him in an intense way. „But slowly, okay?“, he asked him rhetorical as he held a serious gaze onto him.

Mr. Way just nodded again, in a submissive way.

„Okay“, Frank said as he stood up and reached out his hands, so that Mr. Way could grab them.  
„I can stand up on my own. Don't worry“, the teacher said as he stood up slowly, following Frank's instructions. Standing, he took a deep breath. Frank laid a hand on his shoulder carefully. „You're okay?“

„Yes, yes“, his teacher answered in an instant as he straightened his black jeans a bit. That was when Frank put his hand down and nodded.

The bell rang. Both of them turned their look on the clock, surprised.

Frank felt a sudden nervousness coming up in his stomach. He spent already too much time with his teacher. He needed to go home – now.

„Uhm... Can you fill in my paper, so I can go?“

„Oh... uh... yes, yes of course. Sorry.“ Mr. Way rushed to his desk to fill in the detention paper quickly, while Frank took his hoodie from the floor, holding it in his hands.

„Here.“ Frank took the paper out of his hand. He felt, that he needed to say something after all what happened, but also he still felt so nervous.

Frank awkwardly started to walk backwards. „Uh... I'll... uh... see you around, then. Take care, okay? Drink enough water, maybe go out for a walk and rest, okay? Don't sit too long in front your lap top.“

Mr. Way smiled at this, politely. „I'll do so. Don't worry.“

„Great“, Frank responded simply as he packed his backpack quickly and took it from the floor.

„Just one thing, before you go, Frank.“

Frank really wanted to leave this now.

„You said, you did this already often. How it come?“

'Did he really said this? Damn it! It must have been the adrenaline...'

„I... uh...“, he started and didn't knew what to say. He just didn't want to answer this. Nobody except him and his mother knew this.

„I'm sorry“, Mr. Way spoke up suddenly. „I guess, it's nothing of my business“, he smiled.

Frank nodded thankfully and left the class room.

Closing the door, he stood there, overwhelmed by his strange feelings.

He looked at the hoodie in his hands. Even from this distance he could smell Mr. Way's perfume mixed with his teacher's own smell. At first, he resisted to put it on his face, so he could inhale that nice smell better, but then he gave in. It even still felt warm and Frank now felt the same warmness in his stomach.

He ignored the fact, that such feelings about this situation really should bother him, that maybe it wasn't right and that it maybe would cause trouble. But he just didn't.

As he finally left the school building, he couldn't get rid of the smell, that his brain probably saved instantly and that was still on his hoodie. It was the smell of books...


End file.
